You Told Us - Dating Disasters!

If the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, then the road to romance is paved with disastrous dates. There are no two ways about it—it’s hard to find someone who doesn’t have a handful of dating disaster stories to their credit.

By Margot Carmichael Lesterhile most put the brakes on a budding love affair, every once in a while, Cupid’s arrow manages to hit its mark despite ruinous situations. We asked relationship veterans to recall their best (or worst) dating disasters, and here’s what they told us:

The disappearing act
“I was having an okay time when my date excused herself, saying she had to use the bathroom,” recalls Austin, 30, of Evanston, IL.

“The EMTs who arrived only had my ego to resuscitate.”

“The next thing I knew, sirens blared, and the bartender told everyone to evacuate the building. I ran to the women’s room to make sure my date was okay, only to discover she was the one who’d set off the alarm. Apparently she was so desperate to ditch me that she ran out the emergency exit. The EMTs who arrived only had my ego to resuscitate.”

Technical difficulties
“I’d ended the day with a particularly tough call,” notes Steve, a tech support specialist in San Jose, CA. “While I waited to meet my blind date, I tried hard to forget about the belligerent woman who’d given me such a hard time about such a simple problem. I was grateful when my date arrived, and I made small talk by asking about her day. As she recounted how she’d been on the phone for an hour with an ‘incompetent nincompoop’ from tech support, I slowly began to recognize her voice. I never fessed up, but I bailed after one drink. There was no way I was going to date her.”

Pain(t) and suffering
“A cute gal from the climbing wall asked me out for a paint ball game,” recalls Santa Fe, NM resident Chaz, 37. “It seemed unorthodox, but fun. Just before the end of the ‘battle,’ she opened fire on my ‘demilitarized zone.’ It was no mistake—she clearly took aim and then ran off.” Unsure if the

“I called him immediately and we’ve been together ever since.”

fire was friendly or not, Chaz crawled off the course and hitched a ride back to town.

Victor’s secret
“Things were getting a little hot and heavy, and I was ready to make a bold move,” says Sue, 27, of Denver, CO. “I undid the firt few buttons of his shirt only to see pink lace. He was wearing a bra! I didn’t stick around long enough to see if he had the matching panties.”

Sometimes, though, if you give romance a chance, dating disasters can make for smashing stories of success:

Demolition man
“Our second date was at a very chichi restaurant on the Upper Eastside,” remembers Manhattan resident Shari, 44. “We had just gotten our entrees when my date saw his godparents come in. He got up to greet them and somehow managed to knock over the table—onto me. There I sat in my best dress covered with filet mignon and asparagus tips.”

Tom cringes at the memory. “I thought it was over.” The next day, he dispatched a dry cleaner to pick up the dress and sent a huge bouquet of flowers. The card read: You wore the filet mignon, but I’m the one with egg on my face. Sincerest apologies, Tom.

“How could I resist that,” Shari says. “I called him immediately and we’ve been together ever since.”
Margot Carmichael Lester is a freelance writer who frequently contributes to Happen magazine.